Slam

Mike D’Antoni reassures Balkman that, despite his claims, the Knicks don’t regret trading him away: “First of all, who’s that?” D’Antoni was about to walk away from the conversation when he realized it was a bit cold — even for the player we all know by the nickname, ‘Cool’ — and explained. ‘We don’t have [...Read More at Source]

by Marcel Mutoni
Now, before any of you get too emotional about a player whooping it up at The Mansion during his rehab from a serious knee injury, as his team’s title hopes hinge on the outcome of said rehab, do know this: Andrew Bynum is reportedly closer to returning than previously thought.
Ok, [...Read More at Source]

by Holly MacKenzie
Very quiet night in the L to recap.
Hamed Hadaddi with 10 points and eight rebounds in less than minutes of play. That’s kind of nuts. He may finish with more, but that’s what he’s got with 3:14 left in the fourth quarter of this Clippers/Grizz game.
What is with Al Harrington screwing up in crunch time? Getting ejected last night in the final minutes of the game really wasn’t smart.
It’s official: I’ve added Pops Mensah-Bonsu to my list of guys [...Read More at Source]

Photos by Jeffrey McCullough
Originally published in SLAM 120
Can he make it in Europe? Should he have made the move to skip college? Will this start a trend among top high school players? All of these are valid questions. One that isn’t so valid: Does Brandon Jennings have game and style all his own? Well, that one’s pretty simple. — Adam Fleischer

Seth Curry won’t be in a Duke uniform until October ‘10, but every minute of anticipation will be well-worth it for Duke fans. Take a peek at the 18-year-old Big South Freshman of the Year’s work from the past season. The natural 2-guard dropped 26 (four threes) at UVA, 24 (six threes) at Clemson and 22 (three threes) in a win against George Mason. Much like his brother Stephen, a projected 2009 NBA lottery pick, Seth has [...Read More at Source]

by Ben York
Last Wednesday Steve Nash surpassed Maurice Cheeks for 9th on the all-time Assists Leaders list with 7,393. It was a moment that went virtually unnoticed apart from a few minor blurbs in the papers and quick mentions on television. Unlike others who go out of their way to pull down a 10th rebound late in the game to record a triple-double (even if their team secured the win minutes before), this achievement was attained by Nash as a direct correlation of perseverance and unselfishness.
Working [...Read More at Source]

by Lang Whitaker
While I was glad to see so many of you chime in on the MVP post I wrote the other day, I didn’t expect there to be over 400 responses. Man. So I fired up one of the new Radiohead remix CDs and read through your comments…all 409 of them (as I went to type). And I want to read and react here.
Before we get into that, though, I should say that yesterday afternoon I watched both the Cavs/Mavs [...Read More at Source]

by Jake Appleman
Before we get going, a big thanks to Anthony Gilbert for the ride. It’s much appreciated, dude. Pregame
– In the hallway outside of the visitor’s dressing room, I’m pretty sure I hear Keyon Dooling quote Jay-Z’s line “I ain’t animated, like say a Busta Rhymes.” Of course this leads me to wonder: if Devin Harris is Busta Rhymes (unlike Keyon, his game is very “animated”), who is Dirk (compared by Sam Rubenstein to Busta in a recent issue)? Maybe he’s Beanie Siegel because he “keeps three [...Read More at Source]

KD says he’s happy in OKC and excited about the future: “There were a lot of unknowns for Kevin Durant concerning what basketball and life would be like in Oklahoma. But in a short time, the budding superstar has come to a conclusion. ‘I love it,’ said Durant in a telephone interview. ‘The weather is unpredictable. You don’t know when it’s going to snow or rain. But the people here are nice. Nice people. I didn’t know anything about [...Read More at Source]

Hoops fans in the Bay Area must be thrilled with this prospect: “Regardless of how his team is doing at the time, Golden State coach Don Nelson said Saturday night he’s planning to retire when his contract expires following the 2010-11 season. ‘I’ll do two more years and that will be it,’ Nelson said in an interview with InDenver Times before his Warriors lost 129-116 to the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. Asked if those in the Warriors front office are aware [...Read More at Source]

by Aaron Kaplowitz
It’s a designed last-second play that the Villanova Wildcats rehearse at the end of every practice. The ball is inbounded near half-court to Dante Cunningham who hits a streaking Scottie Reynolds. The rest is up to him.
“That play works maybe once every 500 times,” Villanova assistant coach Doug West said.
The Wildcats tested the odds and put the ball—and their season—in Reynolds’ hands. The junior point guard dashed toward the basket and hit a desperate runner [...Read More at Source]

Kidd certainly wouldn’t mind: ” This summer Kidd will become an unrestricted free agent and there’s a good chance that the Cavs will again look into his availability. He has said he wants to remain a Maverick, but Sunday he certainly made it seem like playing alongside James in Cleveland was a viable option. ‘I could sit and watch from the bench,’ Kidd said. ‘[LeBron] is so talented, he’s going to get guys wide open shots. So we’ll [...Read More at Source]

by Marcel Mutoni
It took a while, but Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban finally got in trouble with the League about something he wrote on his Twitter page. Cuban was fined $25K for criticizing the refs following a game against the Nuggets on Friday night.
Cubes took the fine in stride - and even joked about [...Read More at Source]

This kind of thinking will work out just fine for them, I’m certain: “Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant aren’t sweating it. Jackson shrugged often and Bryant smiled easily after the Lakers on Sunday went sleepwalking through their lowest-scoring game in two years, dating to March 11, 2007…The way he breezily addressed the home-court topic, Bryant appeared to care more about getting to take his daughters to Disneyland or feeding his cupcake cravings at Sprinkles in [...Read More at Source]

Or whatever it is that has him so damn excited all the time: “D’Antoni has met with Robinson to implore him to stop constantly arguing with officials, grabbing at opponents and getting into altercations. He said Robinson always promises he will control his emotions. ‘It’s the next step in his maturity as a basketball player,’ D’Antoni said. ‘To be able to be a winner, he has to get that under control. [...Read More at Source]

by Marcel Mutoni
It’s only natural (and fitting), I suppose, to want to beat the team that’s given you so many problems in years past.
Dwight Howard knows who he wants to face, and beat, in the postseason this season. Detroit Pistons, come on down!
From ESPN: Howard doesn’t want to see Chicago, Philadelphia or Miami in [...Read More at Source]

Why can’t we all just get along: “Nuggets center Nene has fired back at Louis Amundson. Four days after Amundson, a Phoenix forward, referred to Nene as a ‘dirty player’ and a ‘fake tough guy,’ Nene had his say. He called Amundson a ’stupid dude’ and a ‘nobody,’ and said a real blow to Amundson would have resulted in a ‘break all of his face.’ It all started last Monday when Nene head butted Amundson midway through the fourth quarter [...Read More at Source]

by Holly MacKenzie
A bunch of games yesterday, but my focus was firmly on the Raptors/Bulls contest. I was at the game and spotted an empty seat courtside on press row (I’m usually in a different press section), and emailed Raptors PR who told me to make the move, so I was able to watch Derrick Rose, and Ben Gordon in action and watching them will their team back from 18-down was something.
Watching Gordon’s shot over Bosh to tie [...Read More at Source]

As the NCAA Tourney winds down and 64 teams are whittled down to 1 (I see you, Scottie Reynolds), we continue to unveil Old School SLAM stories that are on-point. This week we take a look back at the ’76-77 NCAA Champs, Marquette. Now known for Dwyane Wade, Tom Crean and their unique jerseys, Al McGuire’s Marquette team was once the champs. Here is how SLAM recaptured that title game in SLAM #59.–Tzvi Twersky by Ryan Jones[...Read More at Source]

by Franklyn Calle
According to multiple reports, New York City native Lamont “Mo-Mo” Jones has de-committed from Virginia Tech. The 6-0 senior guard initially committed to Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals last spring after his junior season at American Christian before de-committing over the summer and committing to the Hokies last November. At the time when he picked VTech, Jones was also being recruited by Charlotte, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Georgetown, Providence, Southern California, Cincinnati, and Memphis. He started his high school career at [...Read More at Source]